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Jason Schrier "Xbox is a 'mess' right now, Plans change every year, Teasing "Handheld" right now"

Cyberpunkd

Member
Seriously why doesn't Microsoft make a Handheld that runs Windows and has Steam on it, etc.?
Because this handheld already exists - it’s not called Steamdeck. Windows is a terrible mobile OS, there are tests showing it performs worse with less battery life and more standby leak than the Steam OS.
The handheld will be DOA - there is nothing compelling Microsoft can offer what is not offered already by competition. They will also have much higher sale targets than ASUS or Lenovo, making the whole thing even less probable.
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
Because this handheld already exists - it’s not called Steamdeck. Windows is a terrible mobile OS, there are tests showing it performs worse with less battery life and more standby leak than the Steam OS.
The handheld will be DOA - there is nothing compelling Microsoft can offer what is not offered already by competition. They will also have much higher sale targets than ASUS or Lenovo, making the whole thing even less probable.

The rog ally has performed well. The average customer walking into a shop and buying one accepts however the system performs.

We don't know what microsofts expectations are.
 

Cyberpunkd

Member
The rog ally has performed well. The average customer walking into a shop and buying one accepts however the system performs.

We don't know what microsofts expectations are.
Microsoft will push for huge retail presence. People walking into Target will not buy a $999 handheld when they have $500 PS5 next to it.
ROG performed at a fraction of what Microsoft would consider acceptable from a hardware standpoint, that also includes Steamdeck. Handheld PCs are incredibly niche.
 
People are panicking because of all the FUD constantly thrown at Xbox online. Be it justified or not.

However, for now, in terms of factual results, I can't see any meaningful change for me as a consumer : a ton of games are being released, they have announced some slight hardware revisions which shows Xbox still matter to them. Rumors of a handheld console ? That actually sounds... pretty cool, no ?

So what is the issue already ?

whatever-shrug.gif
Fanboys and tribalism. Folks not realizing everything will be folded into pc if next box is a hybrid & handheld.
 
Price point targeting $400 - maybe up to $500. I expect them to lose a bit of money on it just like they will with their home console. And yes, as unintuitive as it might be, I fully expect them to have the console GP and even PC GP to function differently. Players who are used to the PC side of things will be able to access it as usual. Same with consoles. I think the whole goal is to get an easy to use GP system into as many hands as possible to expand it's market which means they have to push into the PC side of things. It's weird. It's confusing. It's going to run counter to how we think Xbox operates which tbh they've already done by going in the direction of a third party publisher. Sadly right now we have way more questions than answers.

Nah, this is not going to work out well for them then, if they do that (the bolded part). Microsoft have zero interest losing money on hardware anymore; the division is desperate to turn profits now and they're already losing $100 - $200 on each Series S & X being sold (at least for the original models, not the new ones launched this year per se). They simply don't have the market leeway to sell at a loss anymore.

They likely will certainly make changes to Game Pass (though IMO more so console Game Pass), but on that point as you've said, there are very few answers and a lot more questions to be had. So basically any speculation (even WRT pricing or business model) is fair game and open to different interpretations.
 

nick776

Member
Because this handheld already exists - it’s not called Steamdeck. Windows is a terrible mobile OS, there are tests showing it performs worse with less battery life and more standby leak than the Steam OS.
The handheld will be DOA - there is nothing compelling Microsoft can offer what is not offered already by competition. They will also have much higher sale targets than ASUS or Lenovo, making the whole thing even less probable.
If Microsoft is going to publish games on other platforms I don't see the sense in releasing additional hardware. They have already irreparably damaged the Xbox brand by porting exclusive IP to other platforms (not saying that it was not already damaged before though).
 

MayauMiao

Member
No surprise Xbox is a mess. It has lost its identity the moment Microsoft allowed their exclusive games to be on other platform, especially on PlayStation.

Going handheld? The next Xbox will be nothing more than a Asus ROG/MSI Claw wannabe, and likely to fail due to unclear path forward for Xbox.
 

Kotaro

Member
Microsoft thought game streaming would be the next big thing. They spent 70 billion for Activision in early 2022 (extremely overpriced!)

Fast forward to end of 2023, something MUCH MUCH BIGGER came along, ChatGPT. AI will be the biggest thing since the Internet arrived in 1990s

So now Microsoft has to re-route hundreds of billions budget to build AI datacenters. They don't care about gaming streaming anymore. Xbox is fucked!!
 
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Nah, this is not going to work out well for them then, if they do that (the bolded part). Microsoft have zero interest losing money on hardware anymore; the division is desperate to turn profits now and they're already losing $100 - $200 on each Series S & X being sold (at least for the original models, not the new ones launched this year per se). They simply don't have the market leeway to sell at a loss anymore.

They likely will certainly make changes to Game Pass (though IMO more so console Game Pass), but on that point as you've said, there are very few answers and a lot more questions to be had. So basically any speculation (even WRT pricing or business model) is fair game and open to different interpretations.
Honestly I can't imagine the appeal of whatever they could put out for a console with specs low enough they make profit off each one sold. Nintendo could get away with that, but there's no way Xbox could.
 

Kacho

Gold Member
The most unfortunate thing is Xbox leaving the console space because the juice ain’t worth the squeeze for their business. The Series X is a fine piece of hardware.
 

clarky

Gold Member
No surprise Xbox is a mess. It has lost its identity the moment Microsoft allowed their exclusive games to be on other platform, especially on PlayStation.

Going handheld? The next Xbox will be nothing more than a Asus ROG/MSI Claw wannabe, and likely to fail due to unclear path forward for Xbox.
This is horse shit, they lost their identity way before they decided to put a couple of so so titles on competing platforms.

Launching a new generation without any exclusives at all is what fucked them. Who does that?
 

pasterpl

Member
They spent 70 billion for Activision (extremely overpriced!)
When you are acquiring a well performing business with lots of assets you usually pay premium, in addition, worth adding is the fact that activision was valued even more than what MS paid 7 months before the announcement that they want to acquire ABK.
 

pasterpl

Member
Be nice if they could manage more than 20%
Sure. Every company can be better managed and be more efficient. You talking about MS so the most valuable company in the world (they have recently made a deal to have their own nuclear power plant), so they have to be doing something right. Xbox division is a different story.
 

MayauMiao

Member
This is horse shit, they lost their identity way before they decided to put a couple of so so titles on competing platforms.

Launching a new generation without any exclusives at all is what fucked them. Who does that?

You call it a so so titles, I say it was sending a message that Microsoft is starting to lose confidence of its Xbox console as a gaming platform.
 

clarky

Gold Member
Sure. Every company can be better managed and be more efficient. You talking about MS so the most valuable company in the world (they have recently made a deal to have their own nuclear power plant), so they have to be doing something right. Xbox division is a different story.

They just need someone with one clear vision and then stick to it if you ask me.

They had the right idea in buying up some studios to increase output but fucked it when they started buying entire publishers. They have kinda killed their own brand weirdly enough. Interesting to watch but sad at the same time.
 
Right now they are weak. But when they perceive to hold strength
perception is not going to be enough. they will need to be actually strong (bunsiess wise). and when their business is driven by already established, saturated ongoing IPs. and games are taking 6-8 years to make...nope.... they will never be able to make a console work. the ship has sailed.
 

BlackTron

Member
perception is not going to be enough. they will need to be actually strong (bunsiess wise). and when their business is driven by already established, saturated ongoing IPs. and games are taking 6-8 years to make...nope.... they will never be able to make a console work. the ship has sailed.

You forgot one part of my post, I never suggested it would work, or be actual strength.

Whether the opportunity actually exists or is a good idea, that's different.
 

m14

Member
People are still hyperfixated with console sales numbers. Remember when Sony were blindsided by the ipod and the Walkman quickly became irrelevant?
 

Det

Member
- Phil made it very clear, they lost the digital library generation to PS4, now the market has “calcified” preventing Xbox event competing with, let alone overtaking Sony
I agree with everything except the "digital library" part

This was an excuse that Phill used with Nadella to justify the failure of the Xbox Series, which was all done under Phill's control and Matrick could not be to blame for its failure.

Imagine that you buy the PS4 and all the games on PSN, digitally.

If the Xbox SX was much better than the PS5 and you bought the Xbox SX what would happen to your PS4 library?
It would continue to run on your PS4 alongside the Xbox SX... You don't need to throw the PS4 in the trash because you bought an Xbox SX.


Phill blamed the "legacy PS4 library" when in fact the xbox SX was one of the most disastrous launches, as far as the xbox one or more.

"The most powerful console in the world" that quietly had to be changed to "the most powerful Xbox in the world"

Xbox SX, a console more expensive to manufacture than the PS5 and which in practice delivers the same performance or loses.

All console marketing focused on FUD: Only the xbox has FULL rdna2 and sustainable performance; to implicitly say that the PS5 was RDNA capped and did not sustain performance.

The Halo "Craig" Infinite fiasco

Was there anything that Phill got right at the launch of the Xbox SX? Because if I'm going to list all the errors, I'm going to write a wall of text
 

Kacho

Gold Member
People are still hyperfixated with console sales numbers. Remember when Sony were blindsided by the ipod and the Walkman quickly became irrelevant?
But if current consoles are Walkman’s, what is the iPod equivalent?
 

Det

Member
Microsoft thought game streaming would be the next big thing. They spent 70 billion for Activision in early 2022 (extremely overpriced!)

Fast forward to end of 2023, something MUCH MUCH BIGGER came along, ChatGPT. AI will be the biggest thing since the Internet arrived in 1990s

So now Microsoft has to re-route hundreds of billions budget to build AI datacenters. They don't care about gaming streaming anymore. Xbox is fucked!!

Microsoft is addressing the huge energy demands of artificial intelligence technology. It has announced a deal with Constellation Energy to buy all the output from the Three Mile Island nuclear power station, once that facility comes back to life.
Instead of continuing its decommissioning of Unit 1, Constellation Energy will bring the power plant back online by 2026, and Microsoft has agreed to buy its entire output for 30 years. Three Mile Island will produce enough power annually to run around 800,000 homes.



The blank check for the Xbox is over, MS practically bought a nuclear plant for the data centers.
 
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Kotaro

Member
Microsoft is addressing the huge energy demands of artificial intelligence technology. It has announced a deal with Constellation Energy to buy all the output from the Three Mile Island nuclear power station, once that facility comes back to life.
Instead of continuing its decommissioning of Unit 1, Constellation Energy will bring the power plant back online by 2026, and Microsoft has agreed to buy its entire output for 30 years. Three Mile Island will produce enough power annually to run around 800,000 homes.



The blank check for the Xbox is over, MS practically bought a nuclear plant for the data centers.

Yep, i have no doubt MS put their game streaming ambitions on hold to build AI data centers.

AI is much much important than game streaming. I bet they regretted spending 70 billions for Activision
 
I think MS's biggest problem is that they're a 4 comma corporation. They have so much money that every single game (or piece of hardware) they release could be concorded and it would not affect them at all. They don't have the same edge as a small startup that's struggling to keep the lights on knowing if they fail they lose everything.
 

GHG

Member
A handheld from Sony or Microsoft with the current £49.99/£59.99 minimum spend for a year of cloud saves and online play has absolutely zero appeal when you like it up against any of the PC handhelds.

"but but my library" say all the uninitiated who fail to realise games on PC are perpetually on deep sale.
 

LMJ

Member
Lost the console wars to Sony surely they can beat Nintendo at the handheld wars…

Awkward Sweater Weather GIF by Gabriela Sibilska
To be fair i think they're trying to compete with Steam Deck etc rather than N themselves
Not really. If it wasnt for BGS then Xbox would be already deader than they are now.

The best titles they have released post COVID have all come from that purchase. And they have INDY and DOOM in the not too distant future. Doom looks especially great.
The big problem is outside of the Green circle many still don't associate Bethesda with MS at all, and having the games go third party will just cement that further
 

clarky

Gold Member
To be fair i think they're trying to compete with Steam Deck etc rather than N themselves

The big problem is outside of the Green circle many still don't associate Bethesda with MS at all, and having the games go third party will just cement that further
Thats cool n all but the poster said the Bethesda purchase was a dud and i disagreed. Im unsure as to what you are saying is relevant to that?
 

BlackTron

Member
Retool every game you have in development and target the next box with those titles exclusively . Hand every developer you value working at your studios a proper contract. Give them all an extra couple of years to polish the shit out of said titles. Release them only on said box and not on gamepass for 6 months minimum.

Profit.

Would cost a ton, but thats what it will take to save xbox.
Cost a heck of a lot less than everything else they do to fail and would actually recoup it. Spencer could have just done this himself and never have to answer to Nadella. Nadella gave him free reign to waste plenty of time and resources this would have been easy.
 
Seriously why doesn't Microsoft make a Handheld that runs Windows and has Steam on it, etc.? This way, the device can succeed and you can make a lot of money from it, especially if it has powerful spec. I've been thinking about buying a portable device for a long time, but I'm waiting for something really powerful!, and I'm ready to buy it. I can imagine running all of Microsoft's games on it, as well as Sony games, Switch games, a PS3 emulator, and a PS4 emulator with Bloodborne, etc.
Adding to what RoadHazard said; cost would be steep and not much ROI. The whole notion of consoles, even handhelds is to barely break even or less on hardware and make up for it on software sales. If they went that route, it would probably be something like a game pass machine... people would probably hate it so MS is still hesitant on how to approach it.
 
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Three

Gold Member
Phil threw up the white flag on xCloud, admitting that playing games natively on a device is ideal. It’s a good value add to their subscription service but not the answer for their future in gaming.
Is that why they were advertising "no need for an xbox" and bundling controllers with firesticks? They haven't thrown the white flag on xcloud at all. It's just not working out for them as fast as they hoped.
 

LMJ

Member
Thats cool n all but the poster said the Bethesda purchase was a dud and i disagreed. Im unsure as to what you are saying is relevant to that?
Well it's kind of moot now due to MS putting Bethesda on other consoles now, but the main point is that at the time of the purchase MS was trying to woo people to their consoles due to now owning Bethesda as a whole, gamers did not flock over however so in a sense the purchase was a dud as it didn't change the tides in the manner MS was hoping. Don't get me wrong it has cemented MS as arguably one of the if not the biggest 3rd party publisher there is...

Like I stated, people average gamers still don't see MS and Beths in the same picture but separate...
 
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